WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President is swiftly breaching the traditional boundaries of presidential power as he returns to the White House, bringing to bear a lifetime of bending the limits in courthouses, boardrooms and politics to forge an expansive view of his authority.
He's already unleashed an unprecedented wave of , daring anyone to stop him, with actions intended to clamp down on border crossings, limit the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship and keep the popular Chinese-owned TikTok operational despite a law shutting down the social media platform.
Democrats and civil rights organizations are rallying to fight Trump in court, but legal battles could drag on before slowing the president down. Meanwhile, Trump is drafting a new blueprint for the presidency, one that demonstrates the primacy of blunt force in a democratic system predicated on checks and balances between the branches of government.
鈥淗e's going to push it to the max,鈥� said Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a Republican from Alabama.
Trump tried to take a similar approach in his first term, with mixed results. This time, there are fewer guardrails.
His administration has few of the establishment figures that once tried to curb his penchant for upheaval. The U.S. Supreme Court is stocked with conservative justices, and recently decreed that presidents for any official actions taken during their term. Republicans are in complete control on Capitol Hill, where the leaders owe their majority positions to Trump鈥檚 support or acquiescence.
In a striking display of Trump鈥檚 dominance, almost no one from his party challenged the decision in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not looking backwards, we鈥檙e looking forward,鈥� said Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota.
It's the kind of scenario that Democrats warned about during last year's campaign, when they claimed that if elected to another term.
Sitting in the Oval Office just hours , Trump rejected the characterization.
鈥淣o, no,鈥� he said, shaking his head and pursing his lips. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 imagine even being called that.鈥�
Then he continued scrawling his signature on executive orders that were laid out across the Resolute Desk.
Trump鈥檚 blitz didn鈥檛 surprise Barbara Res, who worked for the future president years ago at his namesake company.
鈥淧olitics is about compromise. Business is all about leverage,鈥� Res said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 not a compromiser.鈥�
Although Trump got his start in the brick-and-mortar field of real estate, he appears to be taking a page from the 鈥渕ove fast and break things鈥� tactic of technology company executives who spent millions bolstering his presidential bid and
John Yoo, a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley who helped expand presidential authority while working for George W. Bush, said Trump鈥檚 executive orders were 鈥渦nprecedented in terms of the sweeping scope of the orders and in the sheer number."
Although such orders can be easily reversed by a future president, they could have a profound impact for now.
Yoo described as 鈥渓egally shaky鈥� Trump鈥檚 effort to even though U.S. officials have described it as because of fears that China could access user data or manipulate the content algorithm. A law signed by President required the platform to shut down in the United States unless its Chinese parent company found a new owner by Sunday, the day before Trump took office.
But Trump directed his Justice Department not to enforce the ban, which Yoo compared to a student asking for more time on an exam after it was due.
Yoo also said Trump is trying to 鈥渞eally push the envelope鈥� by declaring that migrants who are entering the country constitute an 鈥渋nvasion." The president directed the military to help take 鈥渙perational control鈥� of the U.S. border, but troops are not allowed to handle law enforcement, whether it鈥檚 seizing drugs or arresting migrants.
鈥淭his is without historical parallel,鈥� Yoo said. 鈥淭his is really an extraordinary claim of presidential power.鈥�
Nearly two dozen states over his executive order intended to limit birthright citizenship, part of his sweeping effort to curb immigration. The president's opponents said the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires that people born in the U.S. are citizens, including people whose parents were not legally citizens at the time of their birth.
鈥淧residents have broad power but they are not kings,鈥� said New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin, a Democrat.
Depending on how the legal battles play out, Yoo said Trump could set a new standard for his successors.
鈥淚f he鈥檚 successful with even half the executive orders, every future president is going to want to do the same thing,鈥� he said.
It鈥檚 not unusual for presidents to test the limits of presidential authority, said Julian Zelizer, a Princeton University historian. For example, Biden tried to expand the cancellation of federal student loans, only to see his proposal blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court.
鈥淏ut as with most things,鈥� Zelizer said, 鈥淭rump goes further than the rest to see just how far he can go.鈥�
Res recalled a similar approach at the Trump Organization, where Trump prided himself on his ability to chisel down contractor costs or lean on local officials for favorable treatment for his properties.
鈥淣o matter what you gave him or offered him, he wanted more,鈥� she said.
Res said Trump would keep in his desk a black-and-white picture of Roy Cohn, an attorney renowned for his ruthlessness.
鈥淗e would pull that out when he was arguing with a contractor," she said. "'Here鈥檚 my lawyer, sue me.'鈥�
Trump's ongoing challenge will be keeping Republicans in line on Capitol Hill, and some have suggested
Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican known for an independent streak, said she supports some of Trump's executive orders but 鈥渙thers I have real questions about.鈥�
Sen. Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California who has been a political nemesis of Trump, said Trump's actions run the gamut "from the plainly unconstitutional 鈥� as in the attempt to end birthright citizenship 鈥� to the draconian, with mass deportations.鈥�
Others, he said, like the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico, are just 鈥渁bsurd.鈥�
Asked if Congress would stand up to the new White House, Schiff said he wasn't sure.
鈥淲e鈥檙e about to find out," he said.
Chris Megerian And Lisa Mascaro, The Associated Press
